WELCOME 2024

 
 
‘So far 2023 for a nature enthusiast…’
 
 

As the year 2023 comes to an end, here are some of the milestones that I crossed during this year in the journey as a nature enthusiast.

 
Poems shared on Science Next Door have always been my prime activity this year. It was mostly on species I met and issues related to nature and Earth. Now the total poem shared with Science Next Door is 102. Sharing the poems that were published this year…
 
 
Apart from poems to Science Next Door, I shared some poems with similar themes that got published on spillwords.com 
 
A year that has witnessed riots, wars, terrorism and man-made calamities…I wish for a sustainable future of humankind, regeneration and preservation of nature…So I say that 
 
A few years of travel in some of the wildlife habitats made me think about how people must treat these sensitive places.  First we must remember that we are guests here and wildlife are the owners of these habitats.  Sharing some thoughts about being courteous guests in wildlife habitats. Thanks for this illustration by Sonali.R. Kulkarni. Thanks to the team Youth For Nature for sharing this poem on eco- tourism. 
 
 
 
 
Developing on the same theme about wildlife tourists and wildlife habitats, I wrote an Op-ed piece on the popular news portal EastMojo 
 
 
 
Not only publishing my work but introducing them in various platforms have been my endeavour this year and that too have been successful 
 
Like sharing the poem  WWF-India’s Environmental Information, Awareness, Capacity Building and Livelihood Programme (WWF EIACP PC RP) along with MoEF&CC gave me the honour of reading my poem and giving it a special mention award during the poetry competition related World Wildlife Day 
 
 
Wenaturalist has been supporting me by giving me a platform to share my thoughts and works related to nature for the past two years and I am grateful that they recognised my work in various ways.
 
My photograph was selected as 
 
 
Twice got selected for the Story of the Month Series for the Month of May and July
 
In May for
In July for
 
 
Poem on Plastic Pollution got Third prize in the Plastic Free July Challenge writing competition conducted by Sunshine Environment Magazine
 
This poem also got published on Sunshine Environment Magazine
 
 
Involving in Citizen science efforts and promoting them is also part of the journey that I pursue.
 
Thanks for the recognition given by State of Indian Birds for my effort promoting and participating in bird counting events
 
Even WWF India during their Dragonfly Festival 2023 gave consolation prize for my photography on Dragonflies and special mention on my poem related to Damselflies 
 
WWF also featured my works on their website under the topic ‘Protecting Nature, one volunteer at a time’
 
 
Now the highlight of this year was winning the Runner-up award for
 
 
 
I am grateful to share my thoughts on nature writing and observation during nature trails in the

Earthy Speaks Podcast, hosted by The Young Environmentalist Manya Harsha

 
I hope New Year will provide new opportunities and journeys for my work related to nature and I will find  improvised ways of storytelling to express my passion towards biodiversity conservation. 
 
 

‘Today and Tomorrow with the Tree of Sorrow’

by admin· March 09, 2026· in Animal Rescue· 0 comments
During dawn observed a few flowers that are left on the branches where butterflies and bees are flying around. Insects might even check on the orange-red tips of the freshly fallen flowers. Some flowers fall on the leaves nearby, but those which are on the ground might seem like a floral carpet for a passer-by. Does watching flowers create positive influence on beholder’s mind? The tree that I am mentioning here is generally known as Night-blooming jasmine, which in the local language here is known as ‘Harsingar’. Some call it the tree of sadness or tree of sorrow. For me this one is a tree of gifts. There is also another local name which is ‘Parijat’ which has a cultural and spiritual connection with people in India. Many use these flowers for rituals and offering prayers. It’s also heard that some use parts of this tree for medicinal properties sometimes.  My fascination towards this tree is due to the fact that it is a survivor, and very punctual with its duty of flowering which denotes the change of seasons. Well, trees can understand the change in weather quite well, now this tree is ready to welcome winter by offering flowers on […]
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Long Day for the Night Dweller

by admin· January 21, 2026· in bird, Bird watching, Environment, Nature, Photography, Rediscover Nature, Writing· 0 comments
Rediscovering nature is a sort of detective work. Keeping your senses tuned towards nature and its elements is necessary. With practice it becomes your second nature. Stay curious, that’s the way… Here is a story that I would like to share… 7:05 am 14th January 2026 Morning is quite cold, but outside on a neem tree birds were having a heated conversation. Jungle babblers, crows, red-vented bulbuls etc, all were quite alarmed. I first thought it was a cat or a monkey. But after sometime I felt whatever was there inside the foliage as deeply disturbed the serenity of that location. People below are taking a walk in the park, while the temperature was quite low. Maybe in their minds many thoughts might running and creating a cacophony similar to what was happening on top of this tree. I felt it would be better to wait for a while, as I assumed if the thing that disturbing them was a cat or a monkey, it would move out soon. But the ruckus continues. 7:14 am Within ten minutes I was out to observe, the reason for the disturbance. Considering the ambience and setting it must be something these birds are […]
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So Far in 2025

by admin· January 01, 2026· in Environment, Nature, Photography, Writing· 0 comments · biodiversity, environment, nature, writing
  Last year has been productive in intrinsic manner. While facing fresh challenges I have learnt to adapt to given circumstances. Even as conflicts were raging around the world giving news of despair and creating anxiety for the audience, there always has been refuge provide by nature to many.    Observing nature in the small corner nearby me have always taught me to continue my pursuits even when the results are sometimes not as prompt as the attempts made.    As usual Science Next Door  always gave me the opportunity to share my thoughts on nature continuously for the fourth year. What started in April 2021 with a poem on butterflies has now grown to reach 137 so far.  Will I be able to contribute 150 poems in this website? Here are some of the poems published in Science Next Door last year…   A Seedling’s Toil- Tale of the Soil Wetlands’ Habitual Posers: The Cormorants’ Disclosures  Duress to Zoochosis- A Lonely Wolf’s Crisis Sole Goal Of A Fish In The Bowl Nature’s Colour Galore: Indian Pitta’s Lore  From Oceans to Nations: Mind’s Wavering Contentions Mosses and Notions of Coexistence  Predators vs. Prey in Real and Virtual Space… Experience Of Rat Snakes’ ‘Combat Dance’  A Rainbow View to Pursue…  […]
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So Far in 2024…

by admin· December 30, 2024· in Environment, Nature, Photography, Writing· 0 comments
  Well, it is time to say good bye to year 2024 and welcome New Year 2025… I am sharing some of the important milestones in the journey of this nature enthusiast this year.  Fortunately I was able to kick-start my travels across India this year in an extensive way. Visited the Ghats of Ganga, Hills of Uttarakhand and Gir in Gujarat.     Writing for nature brought various recognitions this year and I express my gratitude to those who supported my ad’ventures’.   This starts with appreciation to Wildlife Blogger Crowd for congratulating me on the occasion of being the runner-up of the WeNaturalists People of Nature Awards 2023 in the category – Nature Storyteller of the Year  Thanks to Fireflies Asian – Association for reading my essay on fireflies and considering it for this recognition. First position in essay writing competition.  It is really an honour to see that my work for nature is being accepted and rewarded in this manner. Sharing with you all my thoughts about fireflies with a nostalgic touch, published in Spillwords.com I am extremely grateful to the lonely conservationists website for sharing the third blog on my journey for nature awareness and self learning.  I am glad […]
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So far in 2022

by admin· December 30, 2022· in Animal Rescue· 1 comments
If you want to know your progress then compete with yourself, not others. Everyone’s situation, aims, exposure and struggles are different.  This is my third year documenting  my journey as a nature enthusiast.  One of the highlights of this year is being a finalist for People of Nature Awards in the storytelling section.  I am grateful that my work was considered worthy enough by the esteemed judges to reach the final stage of People of Nature awards.   The metamorphosis from photographer-volunteer- explorer- writer have reached another phase that’s of a communicator by 2022.  2020 and 2021 were quite challenging years in the journey of this nature enthusiast but these years also taught me to adapt to the change.  Here I am sharing some of my learning opportunities and achievements this year.    Writing poems for Science Next Door continued, the year started with the poem on Struggling to support its diversity: Squirrel’s Destinyinspired by the work of the squirrels.of.india. They are trying to share the knowledge of biodiversity in squirrel species and the importance of preserving and recording their presence in various areas in India.  Slowly from 40 poems, step by step I was increasing my collection of poems in Science Next […]
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